1/11/2012

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Olympic gold medalists Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.), Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.), Janet Evans (Placentia, Calif.) and the defending Grand Prix Series champion Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.) headline the list of those competing at the Austin Grand Prix on January 13-15. The event which will take place at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, is the second event of the seven-meet 2011-2012 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series.

Additional Olympic and World Championship gold medalists appearing in Austin include Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.), Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash.) Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.), Ed Moses (Loma Linda, Calif.), Kate Ziegler (Great Falls, Va.), Elizabeth Beisel (Saunderstown, R.I.) and Kara Lynn Joyce (Athens, Ga.). The Austin Grand Prix will feature over 40 members of the U.S. National Team along with international swimming stars Fred Bousquet and Laure Manaudou from France, Gideon Louw and Sebastien Rousseau from South Africa and Gemma Spofforth from Great Britain.

The meet also marks the return for three-time Olympian Evans to the Grand Prix circuit, who will compete in both the 400m and 800m freestyle in Austin.

Preliminaries in Austin will start at 9:30 a.m. CT Friday through Sunday, with finals beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT. Visit www.usaswimming.org for a complete schedule of events. Tickets may be purchased at the door or through the Longhorn Athletics Store online. USA Swimming will also provide a live webcast of the event.

The meet is the second stop of the 2011-2012 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series. The Series will conclude June 2, 2012 in Santa Clara, Calif. Gold medalists in each Olympic-distance event receive five points, silver medalists three points, and bronze medalists, one point. At the conclusion of the Series, the top scoring swimmer will be awarded $20,000. A leaderboard can be found on USA Swimming’s Grand Prix page: www.usaswimming.org/grandprix.

The USA Swimming Grand Prix Series serves as an opportunity for swimmers to race against some of the best competition in the country as they continue their preparation for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb. as well as the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Other stops of the 2011-2012 Grand Prix Series include: Columbia, Mo.; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Ind.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Santa Clara, Calif.